Our Blog

You may have seen an increase in secure websites—those that have "https" instead of the simple "http" before the rest of the URL—over the last few years. As early as 2014, Google has shown preference to these secure sites in an effort to make the web a more secure place.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is how information is communicated across the web. HTTPS has an extra layer of security that encrypts transactions and authorizations. HTTPS has been most common for websites and web pages that asked for credit card information or passwords. In more recent years, HTTPS has started to become the new standard for all websites. Here are some reasons your company should consider switching from HTTP to HTTPS.

Have you ever wondered what some of the terms mean when looking at your Google Analytics account? In this blog post, we give you some of the most popular Google Analytics vocabulary and their definitions to help you get more from all the reports and data Google has to offer.

Back in September, Sparkfactor learned from RevLocal and Search Engine Land that Google recently updated their local search algorithm, which will affect your website's search engine optimization. Here's what we know.

During the Giving Season (the months between October and December), most nonprofit organizations receive a sizable amount of donations—sometimes as much as half of their yearly donations. As the holiday season can also be a busy time that requires more volunteers than other points throughout the year, getting the word out to those who might be interested in a particular cause can be very important.

That's where Google Ad Grants comes in. Dubbed the AdWords for nonprofits, Ad Grants allows eligible nonprofits to use $10,000 worth of advertising credit every month for free. Keyword-targeted, text-only ads can let people know about the work a foundation does, services that are provided, or volunteer work needed. Here are four types of ads nonprofits can create and tips to increase engagement.

If you've claimed and manage a Google My Business page for your company, your base knowledge will help understand the new developments. If you're new Google My Business, we suggest you check out this post on the basics first.

Recently, Google introduced some exciting improvements to the photos section of My Business. The update offers subcategories for easier organization on the back-end for business users, giving you more control of how you can use photos to market in search. It also allows businesses to distinguish which photos it would like to showcase on search engine results pages. Businesses have the option to add interior or exterior shots, in addition, of course, to a Google Business View 360° virtual tour.

What is Google Authorship?

You have probably seen this hundreds of times by now in your search results. You're looking for an article or story and right at the top of the list of search results is what looks like a great article. It has a great title and introduction and seems to be rather informative and look -- there's even a photo of the author itself and they appear to be a cool/smart/fun/good-looking person, too! Then, I bet you're wondering how to add author credit for google search results, too?

Every day, users search Google to learn more information about businesses. They're looking to find the phone number of a customer service line, the location of a business, or operating hours. You might be missing out on an important advancement your business can take advantage of to draw in prospective clients and improve your sites SEO. This new advancement is Google Maps Business View virutal tours.

Google Maps Business View Photograhy Virtual Tours - Yep! That's right, Sparkfactor has already been on top of this. Let your clients have the option of viewing the inside of your business! As you may already know (or may not), we are a certified Google Photographer - what this means is that we are doing the "see inside your business" photos. Google Business Photos are a high-quality virtual tour of your business using Street View technology.

By participating in Google Maps Business View, you:

Enhance your content on Google with beautiful 360-degree panoramic pictures and quality still photographs. Our Street View technology will bring your business to life with a high-quality, 360-degree, interactive tour.

Engage with customers who can now walk-through and experience your business with the familiar Street View navigation.

Virtual Tour will be visible on Google Search Results, Google Maps and Google + Local to give customers a better sense of the layout, décor and ambiance of your business.

Influence customer decision making during the search and discovery process by inviting customers into your business online.

Share the images on your own digital properties via the Maps API or by simply embedding an HTML code in your website.